58% of reclusive loners in Gwangju “want to escape”… Only 30% of actual attempts are made

(Gwangju, South Jeolla Province = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Cheol-hong = A fact-finding survey showed that the majority of reclusive loners wish to escape from their seclusion, but do not even know how to try.

According to the Jeollanam-do Gwangju Unified Special City Council on the 2nd, Jeon Ye-bin, a researcher at the Gwangju Social Service Center, announced the results of a fact-finding survey at a policy debate to prepare support measures for reclusive loners held at the May 18 Democratization Movement Education Center on the same day.

In a survey of 404 reclusive loners and 92 family members, 57.9% of them responded that they wanted to escape from their secluded life.

However, only 30.4% actually attempted to escape from seclusion.

Many of them answered, ‘I don’t know what to do.’

Participants in the discussion suggested that reclusive loners should be helped to return to society by providing customized support according to the degree of seclusion and stage of recovery, expanding counseling and work experience, and strengthening connections between support organizations.

Councilor Lim Mi-ran, who presided over the debate, said, “Reclusive loners are a social issue that must be solved by the public, not just individuals or families,” and added, “We will work to secure a practical support system and budget.”

Jeonnam Gwangju Unified Special City plans to establish the second basic plan to support reclusive loners (2027-2031) by reflecting the contents discussed on this day.